How to Get Child Care First Aid and CPR Training

Getting child care First Aid and CPR training is essential for anyone who will be caring for small children.  For licensed child care providers, it is the LAW so make sure that you check and comply with local licensing requirements.

But wait, it’s not that simple.

When choosing a child care CPR training, you must be clear about your goals. There are two types of trainings: 1) child care First Aid Training that will certify you in your state, and 2) first aid training that is merely for informational purposes.

As a child care provider or preschool teacher, make sure to find one that will qualify as a certification in your state. Otherwise, you will have great first aid and CPR knowledge, but no way to prove it.

Why Should Child Care Providers Get First Aid and CPR Certified?

In short, you need to be trained to save the children in your care in the case of an emergency.  There are also serious legal ramifications for your child care business if you are not properly trained.

In addition, it’s a great selling point to parents (even though it is true of most child care centers and family child care providers, of course.) So make sure you mention that you are CPR certified, and display your child care first aid and CPR certificate!

In addition, the medical best practices for helping a child in life-threatening situations continuously change. You need to be up to date and on the ball with these types of issues, as your child care business will depend on it. Most importantly, the lives of your infants, toddlers, and preschoolers will depend on it.

How Can You Get Child Care First Aid and CPR Training?

There may be first aid and CPR training classes in your area at a community center, local hospital, and so on.  However, make sure you look for child care first aid and child care CPR specifically. There are also quite a few online courses that are worth checking out.

Here’s one of your best options: the American Heart Association’s first aid child care courses. They have some classroom, as well as some online options. Their program will certify you in all 50 states!

The truth is that child care first aid training for you and your child care staff can mean the difference between life and death for a young child. Though you may think that these types of things cannot or will not happen, they unfortunately can, and they do more often than you think.

Don’t convince yourself that you would simply “know what to do.”  Chances are that you will not. As a child care owner or preschool director, there are things that you can decide to postpone or never do because you don’t have time or money.

This is NOT one of them.

Get child care First Aid and CPR certified, so that you can do your job as well and as safely as possible!